Chapter 13:

Foreboding Daze II

Sword Quest


On his way to the schooling center, Cedric looked dazedly at the mist dome. He still felt as though he was lost within a sea of those clouds, unsure of what to do or where to go. However, his heart was still racing from what his father’s words had given him. He felt like he now at least had a modest light to illuminate the way ahead. An energy within that would allow him to go forward, into that cloud of uncertainty, with some confidence.

When he arrived at the classroom, it became clear that he wasn’t the only one out of sorts. Many of the boys seemed to be in a daze, and seemed less talkative than usual.

This lay most true with Mel. The lanky blonde sat with his arms folded, staring at his desk as if it was telling him some sort of story.

Cedric, not feeling up to pestering him, took his seat in silence. Quentle, on the other hand-

“What’s wrong with everyone? You all look like I ate your lunch and stole your girlfriend. Hehe, or the other way a-”

“Shut up you moron, it’s early and you’re giving me a headache already.” Mel spat out, not bothering to look up while holding his head. Quentle pointed at Mel, looking at Cedric with a curious smirk as he sat next to him.

“Hey Quentle, have you not heard?” the approaching Farum asked before sitting comfortably on the side of their table.

“Huh? No, Cedric, you know anything?”

Cedric merely shook his head in response, only half-lying.

“Apparently…” the slow sounding noble whispered much louder than an actual whisper, “the wall was broken through last night.”

Cedric felt his stomach sink, his eyes wide. Mel responded similarly, but with much truer shock.

“Wha-

“Though it seems it was only a small section, and was immediately recovered. We even caused a somewhat quick retreat from what I hear.”

“Say that sooner next time, man!” Quentle burst out over-dramatically.

“A quick retreat, yet they were able to take out a portion of the wall in that amount of time?... big guns, huh…” Cedric whispered the last part, ignoring the stares pointing at the attention-hogging Quentle.

“Yeah, and it seems the casualties were quite high for such a quick battle, as well…” Berd added with a touch to his glasses, suddenly walking up to their desk alongside the lazy-faced Kaolo.

This time, Cedric’s heart sunk as well. He stared fixedly at his desk, attempting to justify to himself why his low-level friends were sure to be okay.

“I heard Commander Al came in to save the small fry infantry garrison of Commander Giro,” Kaolo added with a yawn.

Gi..ro.…

Cedric mouthed the name, realizing where he’d heard it before, and began sweating visibly.

“Though, from what I’m hearing it’s possible some enemies got through the wall before the retreat happened…”

Cedric was now shaking, his face white and clammy.

“Cedric? You good?” Quentle posed quietly, before the others had a chance to notice.

“Ah…yeah, fine. Didn’t sleep much thanks to you guys.” He brushed off Quentle’s inquisitive glance with ease.

“Speaking of,” Mel cut in from nowhere, “I was thinking about having the guys all join us tonight…ya know, just to be safe.”

Cedric looked up quizzically, wondering how much attention his aloof friend was paying, and if the timing of his interruption was as calculated as it seemed.

“Ooh, a three on three you’re thinking? Spices things up a bit!” Quentle seemed genuinely excited.

“Well, even more would be fine, I think. What about Geraint and Jorge?”

The two muscular boys peeked their heads around from two desks away upon hearing their names.

“You guys in?” Quentle asked in a whisper that rivaled Farum’s in volume and subtlety.

Geraint nodded his head with a shrug, and Jorge held a thumb up with a wink.

“Well, that’s that! This is gonna be awesome!”

“Yeah, so we could do the two big guys, Kaolo and Cedric, against me, the ruffian, Berd, and Farum.”

“Huh? Why so specific?” Cedric asked with a frown.

“No reason, really.” Mel didn’t bother to turn around as he answered curtly, returning his head to his arms.

Don’t give me that…

This is based on…yesterday’s class…

Mel’s weird insistence on pushing the issue frustrated Cedric, fouling his mood further. With a half-grunt-half-sigh, he held his head in his hands until he heard Master Gambell’s polite voice.

“Ah. Good morning, boys. Please, have your seats at this time.”

Even this guy was sounding somber. Cedric sat up properly, thinking the end must really be near.

“Well, today, I’d like to begin by touching on some things mentioned yesterday. Namely, that of the Day Left in Grey.”

Elukard
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